First, I have a small PSA: I set up a feed for the newsletter. If you prefer RSS over email, grab the link and add it to your reader of choice.

I wasn't planning to do a recap of 2019. Here's a short recap of 2019, and a small peek towards 2020.

Writing

I wrote more posts in 2019 than the year before, and want to double down on writing and creating content for my website in 2020.

I enjoy tinkering with my site, either by creating content, adding little bits of functionality, or tweaking its design. In this age of social media and services popping up and down, it's nice to have my own little place.

I've been quiet about Inertia on my blog and Twitter since I haven't been actively working with it. I'll probably be back to building apps with Inertia around February/March, which will go hand in hand with fresh content!

Speaking

This year I was able to speak at my first major conference! I feel honored that Laracon EU allowed me to travel to Amsterdam to talk about Inertia. As of last week, that talk is available on YouTube.

Open source development & overall productivity

I haven't done as much open source work as other years. I don't feel bad about it either since that made room for other things.

This year's biggest productivity takeaway: the best productivity hack is saying no. The less you've got on your plate, the more focussed you work, the more efficient you work, the more you get done.

After spending a lot of my free time preparing my Laracon talk this summer, I've been keeping away from my laptop after hours. At the same time, I've gotten better at managing tasks and my time. I haven't dropped in productivity, and have more time to focus on much-needed non-computer related hobbies (mostly cooking!).

On the horizon

A few things I'm planning to work on the coming weeks;

Vacation! I'm taking two weeks off for the holidays, and I expect my MacBook to stay in clamshell mode until January 2020.

Enjoy the holidays, and until the next issue!

Seb

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About

I'm a web designer & web developer. I live in Ghent (Belgium), and work at Spatie (Antwerp).